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White Lotus
The White Lotus Chapter is ancient, dating back several thousand years. It is the instrumental force that brought about the modern nation of China and has served it people for countless generations as a hidden guardian and benefactor. Sadly, the modern incarnation of the White Lotus Chapter under the Chinese Communist Party has left it... a bit more militant. Facts: -The White Lotus Chapter is a large and complex beast. It covers mainland China (which in the modern world represents the mainstream of the Chapter) as well as Taiwan and Hong Kong (who are somewhat removed from the Chinese Communist Party), and Tibet (although native Tibetans want the Chinese forces removed from their lands). The Chapter is very segmented and suffers from some pretty intense infighting. -For most of its history, the White Lotus Chapter was imperial in nature beginning with the ancient Dynasties of China. Ruled over by an emperor, the modern Chapter was violently overthrown in the last century by repeated conflict and foreign involvement in China's internal affairs. China's regional rival, Japan, actually attacked and occupied mainland China thanks to modern, western weapons. -However, the real event that led to the modern Chapter was the Communist Cultural Revolution of Mao Zadung. Mao, himself a member of the Order of Kings, orchestrated the rebuilding of modern china. Now China has officially adopted communism as its political system and today the country is a strict one-party state where heads of government and military are all officers of the Chinese Communist Party. -The CCP, much to its own consternation, is not the only modern branch of the ancient White Lotus Chapter. Taiwan, Tibet and Hong Kong all boast separatist White Lotus members of the Chapter. There is also a pro-democracy spirituality movement among the Chinese people known as Folun Gong which has practically formed its own branch of the Chapter and pushes for its own brand of cultural change. -China is a large country, easily one of the largest on Earth. It's sheer size, volume, number of citizens, natural resources and stake in global markets makes it a force to be reckoned with. The same can be said of its parent Chapter. -Contrary to what many in the West believe, Ninjas were never a part of China's heritage (that was Japan's little contribution to modern pop culture). China does have a rich tradition of King Fu practitioners, whose precise and practiced combat manouevers made them among the best martial arts fighters in the world. -To say Chinese culture is conservative is an understatement. Chinese values are clearly based around core social structures, primarily those of country, family and personal honor. The individual is expected to serve the greater good of the whole and the White Lotus Chapter expects absolute loyalty among its members. -The White Lotus Chapter doesn't have the best track record in dealing with outsiders. Distrust and outright xenophobia has dominated China's foreign relations in the past. To be fair this has more often than not involved building a wall to keep out foreigners, but in modern times it has translated into intense scrutiny of visitors. Adepts who make trips to China, regardless of their Order or Chapter membership, can expect to have a pair of eyes watching their every move. -China is often touted for its immense military, with an all-female army supposedly numbering more than most American armed forces. However, it appears much of this is pure hype - most of China's military leaders are political party appointees and mainland Chinese forces repeatedly underperform in military exercises. There's also the fact that China appears to be several generations behind other modern militaries in terms of weapons tech and software. -China's real strength in its numbers - both in personnel and money. China is one of the world's largest markets and they use their financial presence to dictate terms in foreign affairs. Hollywood has increasingly been rewriting movies to appease Chinese Communist policies and even foreign government figures have been influenced by the immense wealth that will flow their way if they act in the CCP's favor. -There's also China's immense hacker army. While not that sophisticated, China regularly commits cyber-warfare by unleashing a veritable wave of proven hackers on foreign entities (both government and civilian alike). These attacks are so numerous that they often succeed simply by wearing down foreign cyber security officials with repeated digital intrusions. Several major corporations and even a few government bodies have been hacked and had important information stolen by 'cyber-terrorists' working for or with the CCP. -However, both China and the White Lotus Chapter suffer from two major weakness. They are both heavily bureaucratic, which means they have a lot of internal machinery that often gets screwed up and results in a clusterfuck. They also have a habit of throwing their weight around. Like a schoolyard bully, they make a long list of enemies easily, and China is quickly adding up more and more of them (China's increasing presence in the Indian Ocean has caused India to take a hard stance against them and move its allegiances towards the West). -Here in the West, the member of the Chapter best known to the public mind is probably Confucius. Video: